


Starlight

by Its_Raineing_Words



Series: Hermione Granger and the Bulgarian Seeker [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cute, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter Friendship, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, Homesickness, How Do I Tag, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, One Shot, Secret Relationship, Short One Shot, Silence, Viktor is a sweetie and no one will ever tell me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 15:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19359385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Raineing_Words/pseuds/Its_Raineing_Words
Summary: Viktor makes his way into the astronomy tower to have some time to himself.





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> Gosh, I haven't finished anything in ages, but have this!

Hogwarts was most certainly an odd place for Viktor, beautiful yes, but slightly offputting too in its bleak grandeur. The people were different, the architecture was different, the language was different and even the magic was different. One thing that was blessedly the same, however, was the night’s sky and Viktor found himself spending more time than he had ever done at Durmstrang staring out up at the inky blackness. If he just stared up at the sky for long enough without looking down he could pretend that he wasn’t in Scotland but instead back at Durmstrang or indeed back in Bulgaria, at home. It was a bittersweet sensation but one that he indulged in often.

The astronomy tower was technically out of bounds but it was so laughably easy to get into that Viktor didn’t even count it as breaking the rules. A simple alomahora got him through the door; in Durmstrang the door would have been cursed in at least three different ways if it was really meant to keep students out. It almost seemed like the staff at Hogwarts forgot that the students also had wands and functioning magical cores, it seemed to Viktor. Ridiculous, really. Still, that meant that he wasn’t surprised to find Hermione had followed him one night.  
“You’re not meant to be here, Viktor.”  
“I know, but then they shouldn’t make it so easy,” he didn’t even bother to comment on the fact that she wasn’t meant to be there either.  
She snorted, “True. I didn’t expect to see you wandering around the corridors late at night. I mean, you snuck into the castle and into the tower for what? To look at the stars?”  
“Yes,” he replied simply, looking back to the sky. He was happy enough just to feel her presence near him. She didn’t bother him like the rest of the female population at Hogwarts, she didn’t simper after him or follow him around like a duckling.  
“Fair enough. The view here is lovely,” she replied simply, turning away to look out at the sky herself.

They had been dating, or almost dating, for a few days now and Viktor found himself happier than he had been in years. Especially at times like this, he felt understood by her in a way that no one else had done in a long time. Even his family and closest friends were beginning to see him as “Viktor Krum, the Professional Quidditch player”, and not as merely Viktor, the man.   
“Why are you here?” He asked after a long and comfortable silence.   
“I was coming back from the library, I was doing some late night studying and I saw you sneaking in here and thought that I would see what you were doing.”  
“How did no one see you?”  
Hermione looked down nervously and fiddled with the hem of her jumper, “I have my ways.”  
“Of course,” Viktor agreed though he wasn’t entirely sure what she meant, “You must do.”  
“How long do you usually stay up here?” She asked, leaning forward slightly against the wall of the balcony to get a better view of the twinkling sky.  
“It depends,” he replied.  
“On?” Hermione prompted.  
“On how I’m feeling.”  
“Ah, I understand,” she paused for a moment, “Everyone needs to have something to calm them down. This tournament...I don’t like it. I know I’ve said this to you before but there is something wrong with this. Having children ‘compete’ like this...they say that it isn’t dangerous but I can’t agree with that.”  
“Well, there’s no stopping it now. The goblet wouldn’t allow it.”  
She sighed, looking dejected for a moment, “I know. If it could be stopped I would have made sure that Harry wasn’t doing this, he wasn’t meant to be a part of this.”  
Viktor nodded, “At first I thought that he cheated to get in but...I now realise he didn’t. I feel sorry for him.”  
“He will make it,” she replied, sounding to him like she was trying to convince herself and not him.   
Viktor nodded, he believed it. Harry was a powerful wizard for his age, though he couldn’t help but think that he would have done better had he gone to Durmstrang, though he felt that way about most people.  
“I agree, Harry is strong and he has you to help him.”  
She sighed, “In any other situation I would help you but Harry…” she trailed off, looking guilt-ridden.   
He put up a hand to stop her, “I understand completely,” he set his hand on her shoulder gently and pulled her towards him to rest against him in an almost hug.  
Hermione let out a breath and seemed to physically relax against him and he thought about just how much pressure she was under, far too much for someone so young.   
“Thank you, it means a lot to me, you know.”   
“Of course.”   
After that, they remained in silence for a while with only the sounds of the wind to keep them company. Though the night wasn’t cold by any means, especially not to Viktor, the wind made it slightly less than comfortable to be stood out in it. Eventually, he gestured for Hermione to follow him back downstairs and out of the astronomy tower. It was late and he had spent enough time up here and judging from the way that she was starting to sway slightly on her feet, that Hermione was very much in need of her bed.

They made their way down neither of them were particularly worried about running into a teacher or the caretaker whose name Viktor could never remember. Viktor wasn’t worried because as a foreign student and Durmstrang champion the staff at Hogwarts would have a difficult time punishing him without incurring some serious backlash, for better or worse. And Hermione…well he didn’t know why she was so calm about the whole thing but then again she always seemed very in control of her life and everything that she did that at this point it didn’t surprise him. 

Looking down each side of the corridor, eventually, they were confident that they weren’t in any danger and started to make their way to where they needed to go. Hermione to the Griffyndor common room and Viktor back to the ship where chances were he was going to be questioned about where he had been by his classmates, again. Didn’t they realise that he was never going to tell them? Regardless of any potential false scandal that might cause to run rife through the school.

Sooner than he would have liked they had made their way to where they would have to go their separate ways. Though they had been silent for most of their time together Viktor found that spending time with her, even without speaking, made him feel better. Nothing had changed about his situation, he was still far from home and what was familiar to his taking part in an extremely stressful and dangerous competition all because it was what was expected of him. However, despite all of that, he found himself in significantly higher spirits than he had done before. 

The night air caressed his skin in a comforting whisper and when the Scottish wind blew right, just for a second, he felt like he was back at home.


End file.
